34 Great Packing Tips for a Long Haul Flight with Kids

Does the thought of a long haul flight with your little ones leave you in a cold sweat?

Do you have nightmares of your kids running up and down the aisles misbehaving and driving the flight attendants and other passengers crazy?

Are you worried that you’ll never keep them occupied and in line for an upcoming long haul flight? We were once in the same boat, but have since learned some great packing tips for a long haul flight with kids.

We’ve taken flights from Canada to Hong Kong and Asia, flights to Cuba and the Caribbean, hopped between islands in the Philippines, flown from Cancun to Costa Rica, and all over North America with two little kids in tow. The kids are now seven and three, but we’ve flown with them from the time they were still breastfeeding and in diapers.

Grabbing a Nap

While flying does present some challenges, a great packing list and a good attitude can go a long way.

Here are our top things to pack in your carry-on luggage for a long haul flight with children.

Your children’s legal documents.

Passports are required for all children, including babies and toddlers, almost anywhere in the world. If you are divorced or separated from your child’s other parent, or your child is adopted, take a copy of the papers. If you’re traveling without the other parent, bring a legal document, signed by the other parent, that states you’ve been given permission to travel with your child. Requirements differ depending on your country of origin and destination.

Healthy snacks and small containers (plastic sandwich bags work well).

Raisins, cheerios and goldfish crackers are all good candidates. Bring snacks that aren’t easily squashed in a bag. Don’t bring fruit or drinks, as both will probably get taken at customs. While not very healthy, we also like mini tins of Pringles chips because they’re easy to transport, hard to squish and time consuming for the kids to eat. Bring more than you think you’ll need. Airline food has a bad reputation for a reason, and delays are common.

Sweet, sweet bribes.

Whether this falls into the realm of organic fruit gummies or M&Ms, jelly beans and mini marshmallows, we always bring something that can be used as a reward for good behavior, a distraction or to soothe a crying child. Sweet treats that can be handed out a few at a time are perfect. Our seven year old loves popping rocks candies that pop in his mouth. We stay away from anything that might be a choking hazard, even with older kids.

Sippy cup or cup with lid that seals securely.

These have two advantages: 1) no spills, and 2) they can fit much more than the little plastic cups provided by airlines. Slightly loosen before takeoff and landing to prevent air pressure changes from shooting liquid out the top.

At least one change of clothes.

Carry a complete change of clothes, and two pairs of underwear, for the kids (our kids need their change of clothes one flight out of every two). A change of clothes for the adults (or at least a shirt) is a great idea if your kids are very young, or you or they are prone to spills. If it’s a night flight, pack a pair of pajamas for the kids since they are a great way to keep part of their bedtime routine intact. If they are sleeping when you get to your destination you can just put them to bed without any extra fuss..

Socks and a light jacket.

Even if the weather is sweltering outside, airplanes can be cool.

A small, squishy microbead pillow.

We don’t pack cute neck pillows for the kids. Instead, we prefer a small, squishy pillow that’s filled with little microbeads. The kids love to play with it, it’s easy to squish into your carry-on, and it doubles as a pillow for sleeping. We like this simple one. Click to see price on Amazon.

Something to help your child’s ears equalize when landing.

Because of their little ear canals, kids are especially vulnerable to severe ear pain (and possible burst ear drums) from changes in pressure as the plane lands. Gum and lolipops work for older kids. For babies, make sure you save a baby bottle with milk or formula, or give breast milk, or offer a soother, or all of these. Give your tiny ones the bottle or breast as the plane is coming in for a landing to equalize changes in air pressure. Don’t use tap water from the airplane bathroom to wash bottles or make formula, as it may not be safe.

A stuffed animal.

Aside from providing familiarity and comfort, a stuffed animal is a great toy and can double as a pillow.

Mini board games.

These are a great time killer if your child is old enough, though you’ll probably have to play with them.

An iPhone, iPad, Nintendo DS, laptop or other electronic device.

Don’t count on in flight entertainment; we’ve had broken monitors more than once. Use playing games or watching a movie as a reward for behaving well on the flight. Make sure your electronics are fully charged and bring extra batteries. Tip: We find that if we introduce electronic entertainment too early, our kids aren’t happy with other entertainment, and are always asking to play on the iPhone or iPad. We wait until the final hours of the flight, when we’re worn out from entertaining the kids, to bring out the electronics.

Earphones for electronics.

We bring the over the ear earphones (as opposed to ear buds) because they’re so much more comfortable for the kids. Bring a splitter so you can use one earphone plug for multiple people.

Baby wipes.

Kids are messy. Wipe your face and neck for a quick pick me up at the end of the flight.

A small first aid kit.

We carry band aids and antibacterial cream (accidents happen everywhere) and children’s Tylenol. We often carry lip balm, as air in the plane is dry, and some people bring a saline nasal spray.

Barf bag.

Accidents happen. Don’t count on the airline supplying one, as the little baggies were missing in about half of the planes we’ve flown on. This brings us to our next suggestion:

Plastic bags.

They may not be environmentally friendly, but plastic bags are a necessity for holding wet clothes, garbage or odds and ends, used diapers and any other liquid spills. Just make sure they don’t have any holes in the bottom (see barf bags, above).

Umbrella stroller.

Almost all airplanes will let you check strollers at the gate. A stroller with hooks to let you hang small bags is especially helpful.

Hand sanitizer.

Great for little ones who like to touch everything and then put their fingers in their mouths.

Pull ups for newly potty trained kids.

The stress of travel and inaccessibility of washrooms on a plane can make for accidents. Wearing pullups or training pants can prevent accidents and reduce your stress.

Small toys.

A great place to pick these up is a dollar store or discount bin at a toy store. Anything sticky, like sticky spiders or snakes is a great hit with our kids. Take out only one toy at a time to make them last. Wrap one or two of the best toys to save as a special treat. Kids love surprises! Keep an emergency toy in your bag, inaccessible to the kids, in case of a major meltdown.

A thin, lightweight beach sarong or beach wrap.

This doubles as a tent, blanket or invisibility cloak (for Harry Potter fans).

Washable crayons, paper and coloring books.

You’ll need to supervise to keep kids from drawing all over the seatbacks. The good news is if they accidentally draw on the tray table, it wipes right off with a wet wipe. Crayola Color Wonder paints are great because colors only appear on the special Crayola paper.

Thin books.

Read the books to your kids and ask questions about the content to keep them interested and engaged. Bring a brochure or book about your destination, and talk with them about all the fun stuff you’ll do together. If it’s a return flight you can talk about what you did on your trip and what parts they enjoyed the most. The plane is a great time to share and connect with your children.

Take double the amount of diapers in your carry-on that you think you’ll need. Delays and layovers happen. Our red-eye from Cuba’s Varadero airport to Calgary was delayed for nine hours when our little man was still in diapers. We couldn’t buy any diapers in the airport, they wouldn’t let us access our checked luggage and we couldn’t leave to buy some because we weren’t allowed to leave that zone. Let’s just say the poor little guy was pretty soggy by the time we got home. Another hour or two and we’d have resorted to using his absorbent stuffed rabbit.

Car seat.

Some children are soothed by the comfort of their familiar car seat. That said, we never brought our kids car seats on a plane, as we thought the seats would be too large and awkward. You can buy special car seats or a CARES Child Aviation Restraint System, but check with your airline to make sure they’re allowed. Be cautious about using car seats supplied by an airline, as little kids can reject an unfamiliar seat, and they’ll end up sitting on your lap.

What NOT to bring on a long haul flight with kids

What you don’t pack is almost as important as what you bring. Here are some things that have caused us huge headaches on the road:

Anything messy.

Chocolate is a disaster waiting to happen.

Loud toys like whistles or loud electronics.

Your cabin mates will be ready to throw you out the emergency exit and your nerves will be frazzled to the limit.

Cheap stickers.

Cheap stickers are a disaster unless your child is old enough to be trusted not to plaster them all over the tray table and seat backs when you’re not looking. Some stickers are impossible to remove (trust me on this one. I once spent half an hour scraping dollar store stickers off the bottom off the tray table on a flight to the Philippines). Some stickers are fine and easily removable. You may want to do a quick test at home to see if the stickers you’re bringing adhere like crazy glue or if they can be peeled off.

Play-doh.

Play-doh is a mess unless your little ones are old enough to keep it contained, or you’re watching like a hawk. Play-doh makes a terrible mess when ground into the carpets under your feet.

Silly putty.

Ever tried to get this out of someone’s hair? Enough said.

Lego.

This goes for any other toys so small that they’re easily lost between seats.

Balls or anything that rolls.

Trust me, you’ll end up constantly looking under the seats to determine where it rolled.

Final words?

This may be easier said than done, but try to relax and have fun. Kids are sponges that pick up on your anxieties and fears and mirror them back to you twofold. The more peaceful and happy you are, the better they’ll behave. Double this advice for spouses.

Although flying with little ones is a challenge, traveling with kids has perks as well. It’s a chance to sit uninterrupted, with no work or household chores, and just hang out with your kids and enjoy their company.

24 Responses

I always take Dramamine for my kiddo, because she tends to get motion sickness. On our recent 14-hour road trip to New York, it also helped her to rest along the way, so that was a double bonus. By the time we got there, she was wide awake and ready to explore!

Hi Bret, children’s Gravol is a wonderful thing, isn’t it! We use it in the car for our oldest, who can get badly car sick, and it’s been a huge help. I’ve heard that it can make some kids excitable, but it definitely knocks our little one out for the count.

Hi LeX, I love that you mentioned future fathers as well. Sometimes these discussions are really dominated by the Moms, so I love to see Dads represented. By the other comments, it seems that a lot of Dads are checking this out. Great stuff!

What a comprehensive list! Great job. …After traveling with my kids since they were infants to now (one is a teenager), I can say also – don’t stress it and they won’t either. Kids that grow up traveling don’t need to be constantly entertained or always comfortable during the trip, they learn how to deal. 🙂

Hi Jennifer, I couldn’t agree more. Charles and I noticed the other day that we’re the only family we know that doesn’t have an in-car DVD system for our kids. We’ve just finished a 12 hour drive with our little ones. For most of the trip, we just left them to their own devices, with some toys and snacks to help out (though they did get to play the on the Nintendo DS and iPhone for the last hour). Sure they got bored occasionally, and we had to intervene to keep WW3 from breaking out once or twice, but most of the time they were just fine. They learn how to overcome boredom, and how to amuse themselves – a skill that I think is absolutely critical (especially today, when we seem to jump from entertainment to entertainment).

Hi Natalie, Until I had kids, I would have been right with you on that. I honestly find that my kiddos do better when we travel… Maybe it’s because I love to travel, or maybe they’re just so occupied that they’re not in as much mischief 🙂

I don’t have children, but this brought so much nostalgia regarding the road trips my parents used to take us on. I used to dread the long drives (I was also the oldest), but they made it so fun. And here I am, a travel junkie. And I mock those who can’t read in the car lol.

I travel three to four times a year, all overseas, mostly all over 4 hours – usually 11-14 hour flights. I find the plane is the easier part, its the airport and customs that my kids (aged 8 and 6) find the most difficult. I also pack lots of ziploc bags (small and medium sizes). the other toy/activity I have found is nice is a small ziploc with some pipe cleaners, pom poms and stick on eyes… they are cheap so it doesn’t matter if they get lost but can be adapted to all sorts of things. I find snacks are paramount as my kids are either asleep or not hungry when the food service occurs. Never ever ever allow them to have chocolate on a plane, I usually take it out of the airplane service and hide it in my bag – maybe for later for them but more likely later for me.

I love wine but I don’t drink on a plane, it leaves you dehydrated and less able to deal with the kids at security at the other end.

Always pack a spare set of loathes for them… the two times that I didn’t, I regretted it – trust me. its expensive to buy spare kids shorts in Dubai airport at 2am…

Lastly, its only one day or two, relax the rules on electronics… it helps everyone!

I’m about to embark on my first long haul flight (Australia to Thailand) with my three year old son and my seventeen year old daughter. We have chosen a late night flight (10 pm depart), my daughter and I plan on putting my youngest in the middle seat between us to sleep laying with his head on my lap, feet on hers and I’m considering bringing a small sheepskin (from a baby capsule) to lay on the seat for a bit of extra comfort. Has anyone else tried this? Worth the bother? I REALLY want him to sleep!

Stacey, we flew halfway around the world with Cole when he was 2 1/2 years old and when he got tired, it didn’t really matter what he was sleeping on. Long haul flights are great for giving out blankets and pillows so when it’s time to put your boy down just make sure you have a couple of them handy and the more the better. We actually made a fort once with one and that also helped settle him down since it kept the distractions down.

The biggest thing is to make sure he gets a ton of exercise before getting on the plane. That will help out for sure if he’s typically very active.

As to the sheepskin, I wouldn’t bother however if he has a particular small blanket or stuffed toy that he loves it might help to make him more comfortable. Good luck and safe travels!

I am going to for my first long haul flight with my two year old son and my thirteen year old daughter. And i am so glade to found your blog with lots of helpful information. I will keep following your tips. Thanks for the sharing such a helpful article.

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